Give people the chance to follow their dreams

May 3, 2012

Somewhere across the globe, there's a world champion sprinter getting ready to run a race, wondering, 'Can I still do this?' A thousand miles away, there's a kid with a kite, trying to find a way to make it fly because the wind isn't strong enough today.

Give the sprinter a good pair of shoes and a word of confidence. Give the kid with the kite a hug. Let her know she doesn't have to wait for the wind to make her kite fly.

With that simple gesture, the guy with a prosthetic leg not only finishes the race, but he wins the whole thing. The girl with the kite grows up to build her own airplane so she herself can fly.

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The great thing about stories like these is the fact that a celebrity's name isn't anywhere in the headline. Instead, it reads the name of an average, every day person who might have stumbled and fallen along the way, but believes that what he or she have to offer the world is picture perfect proof that you don't have to be "big" to do big things.

I think it's something that you can't really preach about. People need to witness others move mountains. It's a constructive game of Monkey See, Monkey Do. It gives them the capacity to figure out how and why it worked - and map out their own plan.

On that same note, I think part of the reason why I've had a taste of success as a writer is because my parents invested in that dream with me. They never gave me the short end of the stick and in turn, I never sold myself short. I didn't grow up around writers, but I remember all the times I looked over my shoulder and saw doubt etched on people's faces.

I think it's important to have that in life because it makes your goals crystal clear. Some-times you need something or someone to bring you down be-fore you can get back up. That's what makes a champion, but when doubt comes from somebody you don't expect, you feel like you're getting ripped off.

It's like parents telling their child, "Don't color outside the lines." People with that mindset don't just cheat themselves. They cheat the person with potential - and they cheat everyone else out of an opportunity to see a show of talent.

Talent comes in all shapes, sizes and forms. You don't always have to "look" the part to "be" the part. All you have to do is close your eyes and pretend the audience isn't wearing any clothes.

So, next time you come across somebody who looks off the beaten path, don't walk the other way. Stay and see what they've got up their sleeves. After all, you never know if the person sitting across from you in the doctor's office is the next Betty White or Barack Obama.

Erin Kelly, 26, was born with cerebral palsy in Seoul, Korea and now lives in Altoona. She is a 2009 graduate of Penn State Altoona. Email her at ekelly1006@hotmail.com.